Clash of the titans: Kanye West vs. 50 Cent On Sept. 11, 2007, Kanye West and 50 Cent went head-to-head with their new albums, "Graduation" and "Curtis," respectively. But it wasn't always supposed to be that way. West moved his album release date by one week to reportedly put the two in direct competition. That's when 50 Cent told Rolling Stone he would retire if West sold more records than he did. Luckily, 50 saved himself from early retirement. Not by outselling West, but by recanting his statement before the album release date. He later told the New York Daily News: "People expect a competition in hip-hop to be dangerous.... This one isn't. Kanye didn't say anything disrespectful, so I don't actually have a beef with him. It's just the competitive nature of the art form."

Clash of the titans: Kanye West vs. 50 Cent On Sept. 11, 2007, Kanye West and 50 Cent went head-to-head with their new albums, "Graduation" and "Curtis," respectively. But it wasn't always supposed to be that way. West moved his album release date by one week to reportedly put the two in direct competition. That's when 50 Cent told Rolling Stone he would retire if West sold more records than he did. Luckily, 50 saved himself from early retirement. Not by outselling West, but by recanting his statement before the album release date. He later told the New York Daily News: "People expect a competition in hip-hop to be dangerous.... This one isn't. Kanye didn't say anything disrespectful, so I don't actually have a beef with him. It's just the competitive nature of the art form." (Brad Barket / Getty Images)

Clash of the titans: Kanye West vs. 50 Cent On Sept. 11, 2007, Kanye West and 50 Cent went head-to-head with their new albums, "Graduation" and "Curtis," respectively. But it wasn't always supposed to be that way. West moved his album release date by one week to reportedly put the two in direct competition. That's when 50 Cent told Rolling Stone he would retire if West sold more records than he did. Luckily, 50 saved himself from early retirement. Not by outselling West, but by recanting his statement before the album release date. He later told the New York Daily News: "People expect a competition in hip-hop to be dangerous.... This one isn't. Kanye didn't say anything disrespectful, so I don't actually have a beef with him. It's just the competitive nature of the art form."